


To Be Happy

by awritersdaydream



Category: 30 Rock
Genre: Gen, One-Sided Relationship, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-08
Updated: 2012-12-08
Packaged: 2017-11-20 15:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awritersdaydream/pseuds/awritersdaydream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack thinks about his mother's last words to him. And after some serious thought, he thinks he might know exactly what she meant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be Happy

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for Jack/Liz. The last episode had my Jack and Liz shipper heart bawling so I made this to make me feel better. Enjoy!

_Jack Donaghy sat stone faced in his office chair, staring out the window at the city he has called home for several years._

No, no, that doesn’t sound right.

_Backspace, backspace, backspace._

Ever since his mother’s funeral where he delivered the greatest eulogy of all time, he has been trying to get into writing. After he spoke at his mother’s funeral, and sat through Paul and Jenna’s surprise wedding which consisted of a classical rendition of the new Will.i.am. and Britney Spears song “Scream and Shout”, he felt great. And not just because he didn’t have to worry about surprise visits from his mother next Christmas, but because he was able to express himself through the power of words.

He’s done this before, but instead of touching one person or an office, he touched a whole crowd of people. Thus, the idea of writing a memoir or fictionalized version of his life ( _he isn’t sure which one to choose yet but is leaning more towards memoir_ ) came about. So the next day he planted himself in his office, told Jonathon to screen his calls and turn all visitors away until he was finished. Now its three days later, he’s only showered once, and the only word on his otherwise blank document is ‘Untitled’.

It is at this moment that Jack Donaghy realizes writing is hard.

 _How does Liz Lemon do it?_ He wonders idly. For seven years she’s cranked out show after show, granted the content wasn’t always mind-blowing, but it got done and people enjoyed it.

_I just want you to be happy, Jack._

The last dig. Damnit that woman was good. No matter what he did, no matter how many steps he thought he was ahead of her, she always got him. She knew him better than anyone else ( _well, maybe except for Lemon_ ) and because of that she drove him crazy.

Despite the overwhelming urge to forget her parting words, they were all he’s thought about. He tried recounting the happy times he felt in his life, and realized that most of them occurred in the last seven years. The birth of his daughter, getting promoted, getting rid of Devon Banks for good. All of these things were fantastic milestones in his life.

And they all happened here.

For the past week he has felt a sort of melancholy that he is unfamiliar with. He has an overwhelming sense of foreboding that everything is going to change. NBC could go down the tubes at any second, he doesn’t have any real family left except for his daughter and some liquor-loving cousins, and Lemon just got married.

_Lemon._

He takes a deep breath, and there it is. His real reason for the sudden urge to lock himself away and write about his life.

He should have known something was wrong; he’s never had a hobby before.

Liz Lemon, his constant, is moving on. She is married, she is trying to start a family, and she is truly coming into her own. For years they have leaned on each other for problems about their family, friends, work, habits, anything that was bothering them. And now she is getting her life together for the first time maybe ever and his is falling apart.

He isn’t ready to let go of his Lemon, and although he hasn’t had to so far he is aware that their friendship won’t be the same. She has Criss ( _does he absolutely have to spell it that way?_ ) to go to with her problems and worries and he will get pushed to the background because in the end he is really and truly just her boss.

He feels a sudden pang in his heart and while his mind jumps to heart attack, he knows that it is the result of a realization.

He cares for Liz Lemon.

And possibly not only in a friendly way.

_I just want you to be happy, Jack._

Damn that woman. She knew. She knew all along. She had to be right, even in death. He wants to laugh at the irony: him falling in love with a woman who wears granny panties, wants to eat 23 out of 24 hours a day and who still mostly abhors the idea of sex. He has obtained reasoning for just about every event in his life but has zero logic for this.

“Hey, is Jack in?”

He silently curses his mother up above, knowing she is undoubtedly the one who sent Liz to his office at the exact moment he gathered he has feelings for her.

“What do you mean he’s not ‘seeing’ people right now?”

He sighs. He has found out too late. She is married now, and if there’s anything about Liz Lemon he knows well, it is her stance on infidelity. He imagines her yelling ‘Deal breaker!’ in the middle of his office at the thought of it.

“Okay well can you just tell him that I need him to look at something?”

He shakes his head to rid the thoughts. _This is ridiculous,_ he thinks, _I’m not going to come between Lemon and Criss, no matter how absurd his name is_.

“It’s a rash. On my arm. No, not that arm. My other arm.”

Jack hears a screech.

“Oh it’s not that bad.” A pause. “Is it?”

He can hide all he wants but eventually he is going to have to face the music. Above all, he wants Lemon to be happy. And though he doesn’t understand why, she seems to be with Criss. And for now, that is enough for him. Because right now he can still discuss Tracy’s next breakdown and NBC’s horrible pitch for a new show and the fact that vending machine is jammed because they are still Lemon and Jack. And he hopes that in some way they always will be.

So even though he found out too late and even though she is happily married, he will continue to be her best friend. Because he figures getting Liz Lemon in any form, whether it be in friendship or romantically, is better than Liz Lemon in no form.

He gets up from his chair, his legs stiff and sore from sitting down for three days, and opens the door.

“Come in, Lemon.”

Liz turns around, surprised. “Jack, hi. Jonathon said you weren’t seeing anybody. What’s that about? Anyway I have this weird thing on my arm…”

“Nothing, everything’s fine now.” He leads Liz inside of his office and turns to his assistant. “Jonathon, put my phone back on the line. I’m allowing visitors now.”

“Right away, sir.”

He closes the door and watches as she paces around his office. Her hair as frizzy as ever, her clothes mismatched and wrinkled and her arms flailing all over the place. It’s her completely, and he wonders when these outrageous quirks became his favorite things.

“When did it first appear?”

She thinks. “About 8:00 this morning.”

“Good God Lemon, it’s only 10.”

She holds her arm up to him, but the rash has spread from her arm to her face. He gasps.

“What? What? What happened?” She panics.

He grabs his coat and smoothly puts it on. “The rash is spreading to your face.”

“Blerg!” She screams.

Wordlessly, he grabs her arm and guides her out of his office. Turning quickly to Jonathon, he says, “Jonathon, take my messages. I’m out for the day.”

Jonathon nods and prepares himself for the influx of calls he’s going to have to take. Again.

As they stop to wait for the elevator, her face now completely covered with splotches, she smiles at him.

“Thanks for being a great friend, Jack.”

The comment tugs at his heartstrings ( _and Jack Donaghy hates the word ‘heartstrings’ but he’s been reading a lot of cheesy stories for his hobby lately and unfortunately it fits here_ ) and it reaffirms his place at her side as a good friend. Suddenly, a perfect closing sentence for the memoir he hasn’t written yet comes into his mind and he says it aloud with sincerity.

“Anytime Lemon, anytime.”

Or maybe it’s a good opening line, he isn’t sure. He’ll have to discuss it with Liz.


End file.
